THE HIDDEN MECHANISMS OF TOXIC LEADERSHIP: A MULTILEVEL ANALYSIS OF HOW LEADER DARK TRAITS CREATE FEAR, SILENCE, AND REDUCED PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY IN ORGANIZATIONS

Toxic leadership has become an increasingly recognized yet insufficiently understood organizational threat, silently shaping workplace climates and influencing employee behavior in profound and often damaging ways. While toxic leadership has been studied across various disciplines, the hidden psychological, relational, and structural mechanisms that enable toxic leaders to create climates of fear, silence, and reduced psychological safety remain severely underexplored. This thesis aims to address that gap by presenting a robust, multilevel analysis of how leader dark personality traits specifically narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy create cascades of destructive effects across individuals, teams, and organizations.At the core of this research is the argument that toxic leadership does not merely emerge from isolated behavioral flaws but is rooted in deeper personality-based tendencies that predispose leaders to engage in manipulative, abusive, and self-serving actions. These dark traits shape the interactions between leaders and followers, influencing communication norms, trust, and psychological climate. Through a systematic analysis of existing theoretical and empirical studies, this work uncovers how dark traits manifest in subtle but powerful ways gaslighting, strategic manipulation, emotional exploitation, public shaming, and coercion. These behaviors gradually erode employees sense of safety, leading to heightened fear responses and increased silence.Fear and silence operate as self-reinforcing cycles within toxic environments. When employees anticipate negative consequences for speaking